XSBuilder - Autogenerating XS-glue Code

O'Reilly OpenSource Convention 2002

Gerald Richter

ecos gmbh

http://www.ecos.de

XSBuilder - What is it?

It's purpose is to automaticly generate a Perl interface to C Code

Solves the problem, that the Perl interface is not always uptodate with the C interface

Saves a lot of Copy&Paste work

Systematical changes have to be done only once

For example changes in the memory management of strings.

Is part of mod_perl 2.0 build system

Most code is developed by Doug MacEachern. Additionaly I have

abstracted the code from mod_perl so it's useable for any C code

added new features like callbacks and the ability to parse comments

Replaced C::Scan with a Parse::RecDescent to be platform and compiler independend

Goal is to replace the current mod_perl XS generation code with XSBuilder

Inline versus XSBuilder

Inline: embed C-Code into Perl

XSBuilder: Create interface for existing C-libraries/applicationen

XSBuilder - What does it do?

Create Perl functions/methods for every C function

The function can be assigned to different packages, also automaticly by inspecting the first parameter

Create a Perl class for every C structure

Every element of structure becomes a Perl method to get/set it's value. The object can be either a scalar reference (used by mod_perl) or a reference to a hash (use by Embperl), which allows to store extra data by the Perl code into this hash.

Create glue code to handle callbacks

There several sorts of callback, not all are implemented right now

Create Perl constant subs

Coming soon...

XSBuilder - How does it work?

Parse the C header files

Extract

Functions, their arguments and return types

Structures and it's members

Constants

Callbacks

and create four tables which contains the results

Create the XS code

Input is

The source tables

Mapfiles which contains the mapping from C to Perl

Addtional C and Perl code that can be used to customize the interface

Output is

The XS files (one form every generated class)

Makefile.PL for every class

pm files

Parse the source

Create your own ParseSource class and override methods...

    package Apache::DAV::ParseSource;

    use strict;
    use vars qw{@ISA $VERSION} ;
    use ExtUtils::XSBuilder::ParseSource  ;

    @ISA = ('ExtUtils::XSBuilder::ParseSource') ;
    $VERSION = '0.01';

    my $dav_dir = 'C:\perl\msrc\cvs\mod_dav' ;
    my $ap_dir  = 'c:\programme\apache group\apache' ;

    # ============================================================================
    sub find_includes {
        my $self = shift;
        return $self->{includes} if $self->{includes};
        my @includes = ("$ap_dir/include/ap_alloc.h", "$dav_dir/mod_dav.h") ;
        return $self->{includes} = $self -> sort_includes (\@includes) ;
        }

    # ============================================================================
    sub package     { 'Apache::DAV' } 

    # ============================================================================
    sub preprocess {
        my $self     = shift ;
        $_[0] =~ s/(?:API_EXPORT)(?:_NONSTD)?\s*\(\s*(.*?)\s*\)/$1/g ;
    }


    1;

...run it

    use FindBin ;
    use lib ($FindBin::Bin) ;

    require ParseSource ; 

    Apache::DAV::ParseSource -> run ;

...and you get

    C:\perl\msrc\davint>perl xsbuilder\source_scan.pl
    Will use mod_dav in C:\perl\msrc\cvs\mod_dav
    Will use Apache in c:\programme\apache group\apache
    Initialize parser
    scan c:\programme\apache group\apache/include/ap_alloc.h ...
    constant: APACHE_ALLOC_H
    func:     ap_init_alloc
    func:     ap_cleanup_alloc
    func:     ap_make_sub_pool
    func:     ap_destroy_pool
    constant: ap_pool_join
    func:     ap_pool_join
    func:     ap_find_pool
    func:     ap_pool_is_ancestor
    func:     ap_clear_pool
    func:     ap_cleanup_for_exec
    func:     ap_palloc
    func:     ap_pcalloc
    func:     ap_pstrdup
    func:     ap_pstrndup
    func:     ap_pstrcat
    func:     ap_pvsprintf
      valuefield: ap_pool * : pool
      valuefield: int : elt_size
      valuefield: int : nelts
      valuefield: int : nalloc
      valuefield: char * : elts
    struct:    (type=array_header)
    ...

The result is stored in four tables

xsbuilder/tables/Apache/DAV/FuntionTable.pm

Contains all function, it arguments and comments

xsbuilder/tables/Apache/DAV/ConstantTable.pm

Contains all constants

xsbuilder/tables/Apache/DAV/StructureTable.pm

Contains all structures, it's members and their comments

xsbuilder/tables/Apache/DAV/CallbackTable.pm

Contains all callback function definitions

Create the map files

Mapfiles are used to tell XSBuilder how C datatypes, structures and function aruments should be mapped into Perl ones.

Create your own WrapXS class and override methods

    package Apache::DAV::WrapXS ;
    use strict;
    use vars qw{@ISA $VERSION} ;

    use ExtUtils::XSBuilder::WrapXS ;

    @ISA = ('ExtUtils::XSBuilder::WrapXS') ;
    $VERSION = '0.01';

    # ============================================================================
    sub new_parsesource  { [ Apache::DAV::ParseSource->new ] }

    # ============================================================================
    sub my_xs_prefix  { 'davxs_' }

    # ============================================================================
    sub h_filename_prefix  { 'moddav_xs_' }

    # ============================================================================
    sub xs_includes {
        my $self = shift ;
        my $i = $self -> SUPER::xs_includes ;
        my @i = grep (!/ap_alloc/, @$i) ;
        return \@i ;
    }

XSBuilder can create/update initial maps for you

    use FindBin ;
    use lib ($FindBin::Bin) ;

    require ParseSource ; 
    require WrapXS ; 

    Apache::DAV::WrapXS->checkmaps (' ');

run it

    C:\perl\msrc\davint>perl xsbuilder\xs_check.pl
    Will use mod_dav in C:\perl\msrc\cvs\mod_dav
    Will use Apache in c:\programme\apache group\apache
    Parse xsbuilder\maps/_types.map...
    WARNING: No *_function.map file found in xsbuilder\maps
    WARNING: No *_callback.map file found in xsbuilder\maps
    WARNING: No *_structure.map file found in xsbuilder\maps
    Write xsbuilder\maps/new_function.map...
    Write xsbuilder\maps/new_callback.map...
    Write xsbuilder\maps/new_structure.map...
    Write xsbuilder\maps/new_type.map...

Now we have four map files

new_types.map

Contains the mapping from C type to Perl classes

new_functions.map

Contains the mapping form C functions to Perl functions. Can be used to reorder arguments, tell XSBuilder which arguments are actualy return values and in which Perl package the function will be created.

new_structures.map

Contains the mapping from C structures to Perl classes and defines for which members a access methods should be created. You can also specify if you want a new method for the class.

new_callbacks.map

Contains the mapping form C callback functions to Perl callback functions. Can be used to reorder arguments, tell XSBuilder which arguments are actualy return values and in which Perl package the function will be created.

It's a good idea to rename the prefix from new_ to something unique, here we use dav

Everytime you rerun checkmaps, XSBuilder will create new_* files with the items that are not already part of the other maps.

Next step is to customize the maps...

type map

autogenerated dav_type.map

    DIR |
    FILE        |
    HANDLE      |
    array_header        |
    dav_buffer  |
    dav_dyn_context     |
    dav_dyn_hooks       |
    dav_dyn_module      |
    dav_dyn_provider    |
    dav_error   |
    dav_get_props_result        |
    dav_hooks_liveprop  |
    dav_hooks_locks     |
    dav_hooks_repository        |
    dav_if_header       |
    dav_if_state_type   |
    ...

Add Perl classes

    struct array_header         | Apache::Array
    struct dav_buffer           |
    struct dav_datum            | Apache::DAV::Datum
    struct dav_dyn_context      | Apache::DAV::DynContext
    struct dav_dyn_hooks        | Apache::DAV::DynHooks
    struct dav_dyn_module       | Apache::DAV::DynModule
    struct dav_dyn_provider     | Apache::DAV::DynProvider
    struct dav_error            | Apache::DAV::Error
    struct dav_get_props_result | Apache::DAV::PropsResult
    struct dav_hooks_db         | Apache::DAV::HooksDb
    struct dav_hooks_liveprop   | Apache::DAV::HooksLiveprop
    struct dav_hooks_locks      | Apache::DAV::HooksLocks
    struct dav_hooks_repository | Apache::DAV::HooksRepository
    struct dav_hooks_vsn        | 
    struct dav_if_header        | Apache::DAV::IfHeader
    struct dav_if_state_list    | Apache::DAV::StateList
    ...
    struct pool                 | Apache::Pool
    struct request_rec          | Apache::
    struct server_rec           | Apache::Server
    ...

Defines the mapping from C datatypes to Perl datatypes and classes and tells XSBuilder which datatype are (like) structures

function map

Function map defines the mapping from C functions arguments to Perl arguments

Tell XSBuilder where to place functions and which prefix to strip

    MODULE=Apache::DAV   PACKAGE=guess  PREFIX=dav_

Simple entries in the function map will be mapped 1:1 from C to Perl

     dav_add_response
     dav_buffer_append
     dav_buffer_init
     dav_buffer_place
     dav_buffer_place_mem
     dav_check_bufsize
     dav_close_propdb
     dav_collect_liveprop_uris
     dav_dyn_module_add
     dav_empty_elem
    ...

The following map file entry tells XSBuilder that the value of res_p should be returned

     dav_get_resource           | | r, <res_p

The C function

    int dav_get_resource(request_rec *r, dav_resource **res_p) ;

How to call it from Perl

    # get a sub request of the actual document
    $subr = $r -> lookup_uri($uri);

    # get a mod_dav resource object
    my ($err, $resource) =  $subr->get_resource;

You can let XSBuilder insert your custom code, for the interface

If you call get_props from Perl glue_dav_get_props will be called, which can adjust the arguments and return types as necessary. The actual code for glue_dav_get_props will be taken from separate include file.

     dav_get_props      | glue_
     dav_get_allprops   | glue_

xsinclude\Apache\DAV\PropResult\Apache__DAV__PropResults.h

    dav_get_props_result * dav_glue_get_props(dav_propdb * db, dav_xml_doc *doc)
        {
        dav_get_props_result * result = (dav_get_props_result *)ap_palloc (db -> p, sizeof (dav_get_props_result)) ;
        *result = dav_get_props(db, doc) ;
        return result ;
        }

Arguments can be replaced

    MODULE=Apache::Array   PACKAGE=Apache::Array PREFIX=ap_

     ap_make_array      | ap_make_array(r->pool, nelts, elt_size) | request_rec *:r, nelts, elt_size

ap_make_array requires a pool a it's first parameter, we pass the request_rec from Perl and XSBuilder will take the pool from the request_rec.

structure map

     MALLOC=strdup:$dest = ($type)strdup($src)
     FREE=strdup:free($src)

     <dav_xml_elem>
       name
       ns
       lang
       first_cdata
       following_cdata
       parent
       next
       first_child
       attr
       last_child
       ns_scope
       propid
       provider
       ns_map
       new
     </dav_xml_elem>

     MALLOC=strdup:$dest = ($type)ap_pstrdup(obj -> pool, $src)

     <array_header>
       pool
       elt_size
       nelts
       nalloc
       elts
       private
     </array_header>

Create a accessor functions for every element and, if requested, a new method

        $setprop = Apache::DAV::XMLElem -> new ({name => 'prop'}) ;
        $elem    = Apache::DAV::XMLElem -> new ({name => $name, ns => $namespaces}) ; 
        $setprop -> first_child($elem) ;
        $first = $setprop -> first_child ;

some datatypes, like strings, requires dynamic allocated memory

From _types.map,which conatins a set of standard types

    int             | IV
    int *           | UNDEFINED
    unsigned int    | UV
    signed int      | IV
    long            | IV
    long int        | IV
    unsigned long   | UV
    unsigned        | UV

    char *                   | PV           | | | strdup
    const char *             | PV           | | | strdup
    const char **            | UNDEFINED    
    char const *             | PV           | | | strdup
    unsigned char *          | PV           | | | strdup
    const unsigned char *    | PV           | | | strdup
    ...

callback maps

Callback maps have the same options a function maps

    # dav_hooks_db -> open
     
     dav_error *(*)(pool * p,const dav_resource * resource,int ro,dav_db * * pdb)  | p, resource, ro=0, <pdb 
    
    
    # dav_hooks_lock -> has_locks
    
     dav_error *(*)(dav_lockdb * lockdb,const dav_resource * resource,int * locks_present)

Generate the XS files

    use FindBin ;
    use lib ($FindBin::Bin) ;

    require ParseSource ; 
    require WrapXS ; 

    Apache::DAV::WrapXS->run;

...and run...

    C:\perl\msrc\davint>perl xsbuilder\xs_generate.pl
    Will use mod_dav in C:\perl\msrc\cvs\mod_dav
    Will use Apache in c:\programme\apache group\apache
    Parse xsbuilder\maps/_types.map...
    Parse xsbuilder\maps/dav_type.map...
    mkdir xs
    writing...xs//typemap
    Parse xsbuilder\maps/dav_functions.map...
    WARNING: Cannot map type int(*)(void * ,const char * ,const char * ) for function ap_table_do
    WARNING: Cannot map type dav_buffer * for function dav_buffer_append
    WARNING: Cannot map type dav_buffer * for function dav_buffer_init
    WARNING: Cannot map type dav_buffer * for function dav_buffer_place
    WARNING: Cannot map type dav_buffer * for function dav_buffer_place_mem
    WARNING: Cannot map type dav_buffer * for function dav_check_bufsize
    WARNING: Cannot map return type int * for function dav_collect_liveprop_uris
    WARNING: Cannot map type dav_resource * * for function dav_ensure_resource_writable
    WARNING: Cannot map type dav_buffer * for function dav_lock_get_activelock
    WARNING: Cannot map type dav_buffer * for function dav_set_bufsize
    WARNING: Cannot map type int * for function dav_xml2text
    struct array_header...
    Parse xsbuilder\maps/dav_structure.map...
         elt_size...
         nelts...
         nalloc...
         elts...
    struct dav_buffer...
    struct dav_datum...
         dptr...
         dsize...
    struct dav_dyn_context...

Makefile.PL

We need create a top level Makefile.PL

    use ExtUtils::MakeMaker ();
    
    my $apdir  = '/path/to/apache';
    my $davdir = '/path/to/moddav';

    %MMARGS = (
               'INC'    => "-I\"$davdir\" -I\"$apdir/include\" -I\"$apdir/os/unix\" -I\"$dir/xs\"  -I\"$dir/xsinclude\"",
               ) ;


    open FH, ">xs/mmargs.pl" or die "Cannot open xs/mmargs.pl ($!)" ;
    print FH Data::Dumper -> Dump ([\%MMARGS], ['MMARGS']) ;
    close FH ;


    ExtUtils::MakeMaker::WriteMakefile(
        'NAME'    => 'Apache::DAV',
        'VERSION' => '0.13',
        %MMARGS,
    );

Makefile.PL's for all class are generated automaticly

    C:\perl\msrc\davint>perl Makefile.PL
    Will use Apache in c:\programme\apache group\apache
    Will use mod_dav in C:\perl\msrc\cvs\mod_dav
    Checking if your kit is complete...
    Looks good
    Writing Makefile for Apache::Array
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::Datum
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::DynContext
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::DynHooks
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::DynModule
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::DynProvider
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::Error
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::HooksDb
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::HooksLiveprop
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::HooksLocks
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::HooksRepository
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::IfHeader
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::Lock
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::LockDB
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::LockTokenList
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::LockupResult
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::PropCtx
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::PropsResult
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::Resource
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::Response
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::StateList
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::Text
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::TextHeader
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::WalkerCtx
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::XMLAttr
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::XMLDoc
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV::XMLElem
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV
    Writing Makefile for Apache::TableEntry
    Writing Makefile for Apache
    Writing Makefile for WrapXS
    Writing Makefile for Apache::DAV

and now compile...

How does it go on...

Generating documentation

XSBuilder already extracts source comments for functions and structures. It also parses doxygen comments, which are used in Apache 2.0. Lyle Brooks has started on automaticly createing POD files from this information.

Improving callbacks

Callbacks are the main area that needs improvement.

Bring it back to mod_perl 2.0

First version will be released just after the conference to CPAN

Any feedback and help appreciated

Questions?

cpanm ExtUtils::XSBuilder

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install ExtUtils::XSBuilder